


A Winter visit

by Talulaskye



Category: Call of Cthulhu: Path of Perdition (Web Series), Internet Remix
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26943400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talulaskye/pseuds/Talulaskye
Summary: "Not everything is as it seems, and not everything that seems is. "- José Saramago
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	A Winter visit

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try my hand at some writing for characters that are in a Call of Cthulhu campaign that Internet Remix is doing. I normally don't write stories but I gave it my best shot and I hope you enjoy it.

Mid-January in Cambridge was the most beautiful time of the year. Despite the harsh wind and cold temperatures, seeing a clear sky with fresh snowfall on the ground was a sight to see. However, today was not that day.

Sunil sprang out of his chair with a sudden jolt and looked towards the window. It was covered in frost from the recent cold weather and a dark oak tree branch was slightly tapping on the frozen glass. 

"Just a branch Sunil get a hold of yourself"

He cautiously sat back down at the kitchen table. He had no idea why he was so uneasy, maybe it was the fact he was by himself? Or maybe the house floorboards creaked every few minutes? Or possibly it was the complete silence of not hearing a single sound besides the howling wind and soft tapping of a tree branch? The skies were dark with various shades of grey above.

Sunil stared at his half-empty glass of water, he was completely alone with just his thoughts.

It had been three years since Sunil visited America and experienced the crazed events that happened there before departing off to Chicago. It seemed almost like a dream what happened there; but the phone calls from Mason, Kit, Sybil, and James tell otherwise. They occasionally talked about the events that happened in America but for the most part, everyone had moved on with their lives as they should. He himself even moved on with his life going back to his mother, Manisha Pandey, and his sick father Gotam Pandey in Cambridge. However, it was just him and his mother nowadays. Around a year ago, Gotam had unfortunately passed away. He and his mother had been in mourning ever since. Each day got a bit easier but deep down inside it still hurt that Sunil couldn't do anything for him while he was alive. As for the others, Mason moved out of Aphrodite's thanks to Kit, Sybil, and James. He even now works in the film industry with Paramount and is in a few films. James and Sybil were traveling the world and exploring the supernatural and the strange. Though the last he heard from them was that they were in Berlin with Kit catching up on what he was doing.

Sunil jumped again, losing his concentration on his thoughts.

There was a knock at the door. He turned around in his wooden chair and stared at the door. Why would anyone be at the door in this weather? Was he expecting guests today? Was he expecting visitors today? He couldn't remember. 

Another knock was heard at the door. 

Sunil got out of his chair. The floorboards creaked with age as he made his way to the door. He heard muffled voices on the other side of the door. He couldn't tell who it was but whoever it was he wasn’t going to keep them waiting in the freezing cold. He took in a breath and turned the doorknob. A blast of cold air hit Sunil's face as he opened the door and before he could react he was instantly hugged by the stranger waiting outside.

“Sunil! So good to see you!”

The voice sounded familiar, could it possibly be? No, it couldn’t, right? 

“S-Sybil?”

The stranger let go of Sunil and grabbed his hat and put it on her head. 

“Yup it's me who else would it be? So good to see you again we haven’t heard from you in a bit and thought we should visit”

Behind Sybil stood James. He gave a wave with his hand.

"Hey, good to see you Sunil."

Sybil was decked out in her fancy clothes; wearing a karakul fur jacket in a soft natural beige color. It had a high collar to cover up her neck from the cold and had loose, slightly flared back full cuffed bell sleeves and was lined throughout with rich brocaded satin. She wore closed-toe beige shoes with a small heel on the end and an assortment of bracelets on both her wrists. James wore, from what Sunil could tell, some type of three-piece suit with a dark brown overcoat with full fur around the collar over it. He wore wingtip toe, dark brown, oxford shoes. They were both dressed to impress. 

Sunil was still in shock by the sudden visit but didn't hesitate to let them inside from the chilling air. 

"Oh, this is quite a lovely home you have here Sunil."

Sybil was already looking around the area for what Sunil concluded was probably any chupacabras; as that was the topic of discussion on his latest phone call with Sybil in the past weeks.

"Thank you, Miss Cordova." 

The three of them settled in the house and made their way to the living room. Sybil and James took the sofa while Sunil took the empty nearby armchair. 

"So not to be rude but, how did you find me?"

James and Sybil both stared at each other and stared back at Sunil.

"Don't worry about it." Sunil gave a confused expression and looked at James with a questioning gaze.

"Don't worry about it." James tilted his head towards Sybil. Sunil sighed. He should have expected that answer from the two of them. 

Sybil fixed Sunil's hat on her head. 

"I really need to get myself one of these. Oh then we could match Sunil wouldn't that be great!" Sunil chuckled a bit. 

"Yes, that would be nice Miss Cordova."

"Well, you two can't exactly match if Miss Cordova has your hat now can you, Mr. Pandey?" James stood up and turned towards Sybil reaching out his hand. Sybil sighed and took the hat off her head and handed it to James. 

"Fine, I suppose he can have it back." Sybil crossed her arms and sank back into the sofa while James walked over, dusting off the hat, walking behind the armchair, and placing it on Sunil's head. 

"There you go, good as new!" He patted Sunil on the shoulder. 

"Oh, thank you, James." 

There was a moment of silence before Sunil spoke up. "I meant to ask this earlier but weren't you two in Berlin visiting Kit?"

Sybil sat up straight again on the sofa. “Oh yes we were but we decided to come to make a stopover to visit you since we were so close.”

The two of them both gave cheerful smiles.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble that it may have possibly taken for you two to get here. The winters here can be a bit harsh.”

"It's fine, don't worry about it. We’ve got the best transportation out there."

There was a pause of silence as the wind could be heard from outside, then nothing. Sunil felt the weird tension and was about to speak when James grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back into the armchair. 

"J-James what are you doing?" Sunil tried turning his head around but couldn't see James, only his arms and hands. He turned around to look at Sybil who was standing in the middle of the room staring at him. 

"Mr. Pandey I think you know why we're here." Sunil tried getting up from the chair but it was no use. James was much stronger than Sunil and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get up. 

"Sybil I'm all for your extravagant ideas and plans but can you tell James to please let me go?" Sybil didn't say anything; she just continued to look at him as a smile crept on her face. Sunil then noticed her hands started to bubble almost like boiling a pot of water. It started with her hands, then arms, up to her neck, then her face. Her body started to stretch in this weird mass and started to slowly melt like wax from a candle from the top of her head to the bottom of her shoes. Sunil couldn't speak as he watched in horror as his friend turned into a puddle of mass on the floor. He was in such a distraught state he didn't even notice the melted wax of James slowly melting down on his vest. All Sunil could hear was the pounding of his heartbeat.

Sunil fell to his knees on the carpeted floor. "This can't be real? I must be dreaming, right? This isn't real?"

"Oh but Mr. Pandey I assure you this is all real."

Sunil instantaneously stood up from floor to be staring straight at Lester Goodman. 

"Why hello, there Mr. Pandey it's been a while." Lester stretched each finger out to give a wave keeping that same old grin on his face like the one he saw back in America. 

Sunil took a few steps back until hitting the edge of the armchair to turn around and see a completely melted puddle where James O' Connel once stood. He turned around towards Lester. 

"What have you done with them!"

"Oh, Mr. Pandey I don't think that's how you greet an old friend now is it, where are your manners?" 

"You can eat shit and die for all I care. What did you do to Sybil and James?"

Lester gave a monotone laugh which sounded more robotic than human "I don't think that's your problem right now Mr. Pandey but this seems to be your problem."

Suddenly a hospital bed appeared in the room with Gotam Pandey laying down on it; hooked up to different types of machinery that connected to his arm and Lester stood right next to it. "Be a shame if something happened to him now would it Mr. Pandey?"

Sunil was in complete shock. Why was Lester here? Is this all actually real? What happened to Sybil and James? Why was his dad back? His mind raced with hundreds of questions. Sweat fell down his forehead and it was getting hard for him to breathe. 

“Oh and your poor, dear dad; really unfortunate what happened to him Mr. Pandey, but I wonder what would happen here if I pulled the cord, hmm?” 

Sunil's eyes grew wide and his face pale. No, he couldn't see this happen again. Seeing his dad die already once was hard enough, but a second time he couldn't do it.

“No!”

He ran over to his dad but it was too late. Lester yanked the cord and the room went dark and the final thing he heard was a scream. 

___

Sunil woke up in a cold sweat on the bed and bolted upright. He was sweating profusely and shaking all over. He held his hands together and placed them on his forehead and closed his eyes.

“It was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, just a...”

But was it really a dream? Or was it like the dream he experienced back in America? He couldn't tell. Sunil brushed his hand through his hair and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He was trying to calm down taking deep breaths in and out. Was it real? Was it fake? Was it just a bad nightmare? He pinched his arm and felt a slight sting where he pinched his skin.

“Alright, not a dream. You're still alive, calm down Sunil it’s okay you’re still alive.”

He looked out his bedroom window. The sky was a clear blue with fresh snow on the ground. It looked to be the middle of the day. He took a few more deep breaths until he heard a knocking sound from his bedroom door. 

“Sunil, are you in there? You have some guests at the door.” Sunil could always recognize his mother's voice. He jumped out of bed and hastily walked over to the door. 

“Everything alright? I tried knocking several times but you didn’t answer?” Sunil sighed out of relief that it was his mom at the door and gave her a hug. Sunil's mom hesitated at the sudden response but gave one back.

"Is everything alright?"

Manisha pulled Sunil back to look at him. His hair was a mess and clothes a bit wrinkled. 

"Yes I'm alright mom just was taking a nap is all."

“No wonder, look at you, your hair, and gosh your clothes; if you want to rest, do it at night you won't be able to sleep now since you got to rest.”

"Yes, mam."

Manisha fixed Sunil's hair and straightened out his clothes the best she could to make him look presentable.

“Now hurry along you don’t want to keep them waiting in the cold.”

His mom gave him a pat on the shoulder and a small push out the bedroom door. He turned around and gave his mom a smile. She smiled back and ushered him to go to the door. Making a quick pace, Sunil went down the stairs. When he almost reached the bottom of the stairs he paused on the last step his right foot hovering over the last step to the hardwood floor. His face turned pale and was flushed and his eyes were wide not in surprise but in shock. There stood before him, in the doorway, were Sybil Cordova and James O'Connell.

END


End file.
